Despite the recent stretch of cool weather, area maple producers expect to have enough sap on tap when 11 of them open their shanties to the public this weekend.

And this season's yield, by most accounts, should be particularly sweet.

Sap gathered during an initial run last week was "sweeter than average," leading to some quality maple syrup, said Haskell A. Yancey of Yancey's Sugarbush, Belfort.

While relatively low temperatures this week have held off further syrup-making, Mr. Yancey is hopeful that another run will come soon. "The trees seem to want to drip," he said.

Eleven maple operations in Lewis, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties, including Yancey's, will hold open houses this weekend as part of the 13th annual New York Maple Weekend festivities, intended to help promote maple products. The maple weekend will have about 110 producers statewide participating.

"It's a great family event to come out and see the first true crop of the spring," said Michele E. Ledoux, executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County.

Mrs. Ledoux is encouraging people to visit several participating sugarhouses to see differing types of maple operations. "They range from very traditional to very modern," she said.

Mr. Yancey, who taps about 5,500 trees, runs a traditional operation, with most sap collected in buckets and gathered by two teams of horses drawing sleighs or wagons. However, he did introduce some tubing this year.

The fifth-generation operation has, on average, produced about 800 gallons of syrup per year, Mr. Yancey said. "But we haven't had any average year in three years, so we're due," he said.

Rutley's Maple Farms in Sanfordville, the largest maple syrup producer in St. Lawrence County, taps more than 20,000 trees. The Rutleys have been collecting sap since early March and have already made some maple syrup, but recent frigid temperatures have slowed production.

"The trees are still frozen; they don't want to run," co-owner Charles A. Rutley said. "It's an agriculture business. You can't do anything unless Mother Nature tells you. If the temperatures improve, the sap will be running and we'll be working around the clock collecting it."

Sugar concentration in the sap appears to be higher than previous years because the maple trees were healthy, Mr. Rutley said. While sap usually averages about 2 percent sugar, this year's yield has been around 3 percent, he said.

"It means the maple syrup will be of a higher quality," Mr. Rutley said.

The Rutley operation uses vacuum tubing, which draws sap from the trees into several gathering tanks. The vacuum tubing typically provides earlier and longer sap runs than bucket systems, Mr. Rutley said.

Sap then is forced through a reverse-osmosis filter — which removes about half of the water from the sap — and boiled for several hours in an evaporator. Removing the water cuts energy consumption in making syrup.

The Rutley farm plans to produce about 4,000 gallons of maple syrup by late April. Typically, about 42 gallons of sap is needed to produce a gallon of maple syrup.

Harvey J. Burnham, owner of Burnham's Pure Maple Syrup on County Route 63 near Adams Center, said about 4,000 taps will be used to remove sap from the maple trees. He hopes to produce about 800 gallons of maple syrup this season.

While high snow totals have obstructed efforts to reach his maple trees, the end result will be sweeter this year, Mr. Burnham said.

"The maple syrup this year is richer in quality and is more flavorable," he said.

"We're very pleased," said Mary Jeanne Packer, executive director of the New York State Maple Producers Association. "The sap is running almost every day. More and more producers are doing early sap runs."

Visitors to most sugar shanties can sample treats, such as maple candy, maple cream and maple cotton candy and view syrup-making demonstrations. Recipes using maple syrup in everything from pies to seafood to vegetables will also be available at local Maple Weekend sites.

"It has really become a wonderful family tradition," Ms. Parker said.

State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick M. Hooker and other state and local officials are slated to attend an 11 a.m. tree tapping ceremony at the American Maple Museum on Main Street in Croghan. The museum also will host pancake breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday.

Other pancake breakfasts and suppers are scheduled over the weekend in Colton, Hermon, Smithville and Mannsville.